by Dawn Marcotte

Created on: October 19, 2009   Last Updated: October 21, 2009

Aspergers is a form of autism that can be extremely difficult to diagnose. Symptoms and severity differ from one child to the next and can be misdiagnosed for years, as there isn't any one test for autism or Aspergers. These children are often extremely intelligent and may speak early. Parenting a child with Aspergers can be challenging. Children with Aspergers will not react as adults expect them to react in many situations, yet they don't have an obvious impairment to explain unusual behaviors. Their knowledge and verbal ability can obscure the Aspergers.

My daughter is our oldest child and, as inexperienced parents, we had no idea something was wrong until she entered school. Her quirks about loud noises and not liking certain clothing textures were just part of who she is. Oversensitivity or under sensitivity to stimuli is a common symptom of Aspergers. Once she was in kindergarten, her teacher discovered that she had a hard time interacting with peers. She had been in daycare since three months of age and this was the first we had heard of her inability to interact well with kids her own age. She joined a 'friendship class' to learn social skills and this helped, but not enough. The school recommended we have her tested to identify additional issues.

Finding a reputable behavioral specialist and then getting an appointment took time. He misdiagnosed her as ADHD. We tried using medication and were disappointed in how poorly she reacted. We were frustrated at our inability to 'teach' our child how to behave properly. We located a different medical specialist and got our daughter tested more thoroughly. This clinic diagnosed her Aspergers with a component of ADHD. The diagnosis was a relief, not only as an answer to why she behaved the way she did, but because we could quantify her difficulties to family members who had a hard time understanding why we couldn't control our child.

Our daughter, as many Aspergers children, was unable to understand non-verbal communication. It was like everyone around her was speaking a secret language that she didn't understand and was unprepared to deal with. She also suffers from sensory integration difficulties. Her brain does not process sound and touch the same way mine does. She responds poorly to sudden changes in schedules and needed to feel in control. These difficulties can make parenting a challenge on the best of days.

We enrolled her in as many social skills classes and small group activities as we could so

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